SALT LAKE CITY, Utah (Ivanhoe Newswire) — September is Sepsis Awareness month. According to the CDC, at least 1.7 million adults in the US develop sepsis and nearly 270 thousand die as a result. It’s the leading cause of death in US hospitals. Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency. When your body has an infection, your immune system works to fight it but may stop and instead damage your normal tissues and organs leading to widespread inflammation throughout your body. Cases are on the rise — and symptoms often go unnoticed until it’s too late.
Fire fighter Christopher Askew was doing his duty, until … he says, “I felt a little scratch in my throat after shift and I went home and for the next two days I began to get a lot worse.”
Christopher had a strep infection which progressed to sepsis. He says, “I didn’t think I was going to make it. I honestly felt like death.”
Elizabeth A. Middleton, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at University of Utah Health explains, “The inflammation is designed to kill the organism. But what happens is, it goes a little bit out of control. And so, then the patient’s body suffers the consequences.”
The CDC reports sepsis cases are on the rise. Experts believe the overuse of antibiotics has created a breeding ground for superbugs. The population is also aging, meaning more people are living with weakened immune systems and also more are living with chronic disease.
Doctor Middleton says, “People that are immune compromised, that don’t have an intact immune system, are at high risk of developing sepsis, and that’s because they’re at greater risk of getting an infection.”
Doctor Middleton says they teach their healthcare providers to spot the signs early and they’re implementing programs to promote judicious use of antibiotics to prevent superbugs.
For Askew, it was a battle he needed to win. He says, “I never want to give up my family. I got four boys, nine, seven, five, and four years old.”
With the support of his family and friends, Askew is recovered and now back in action.
Doctor Middleton says when looking for symptoms, consider the acronym T.I.M.E.: T for temperature, I for infection, M for mental decline and E for extremely ill.
Contributors to this news report include: Marsha Lewis, Producer; Cliff Tumetel, Associate Producer, Roque Correa Editor.
Sources:
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/12361-sepsis
https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/hcp/core-elements/
https://www.sepsis.org/about/its-about-time/
* For More Information, Contact:
Nayeli Hernandez, Spanish-Language Communications Specialist
University of Utah Health
(970) 820-7185
and
Elizabeth A. Middleton, MD
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of Utah Health
Elizabeth.middleton@hsc.utah.edu
30 N Mario Cappechi Drive, 2nd Floor
Salt Lake City, UT 84112
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